


Mors Autem Aureum

by ashenrenee6968



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-01
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-10-26 05:32:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10780575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashenrenee6968/pseuds/ashenrenee6968
Summary: I’m so sorry, Miss Granger. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what those words meant. She was going to die. Hermione Granger, brightest witch of her age, the brains of the Golden Trio, was going to die. Flintmione. Rated M.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello my loves and welcome to MarcusMay2017! This story is mostly planned out and has quite a few chapters pre written. I do not have an update schedule for it and it will probably run a little past May, but this plot would not leave me alone! I don't think that it's going to be very long, but you never know with me! I hope you enjoy it loves!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, this is JK Rowling's sandbox, I'm just building castles.
> 
> This story is rated M because more than likely there's going to be sexual content. Also language, because I swear a lot.
> 
> Lots of love to my alpha/beta reader for this fic, NDMC, you are a gift to this world my love and I appreciate you.

_I'm so sorry, Miss Granger_. The words echoed in her head for hours after they've been spoken. She'd heard them so many times in her life, the first time had been during her first year, when Dumbledore had had to explain to her about blood prejudice and what the word mudblood meant. She'd heard them again when she was sixteen, lying on a bed in the hospital wing while Madam Pomfrey told her she might never have children as a side effect of Dolohov's curse, and again from the woman when she'd inspected the scars Bellatrix Lestrange had left behind.

 _I'm so sorry, Miss Granger_. They were the exact words Kingsley had said to her when he'd informed her that her parent's memories couldn't be restored, the words Arthur Weasley had used when Ron had proposed to Pansy during Christmas dinner, only a month after he'd broken things off with her.

They were the words Healer Hart had used to avoid her questions about treatments for the magical illness she'd been diagnosed with. _Mors Autem Aureum,_ The Golden Death. A disease that would slowly drain her magical core until she wasted away to nothing. _What do we do to stop it?_ She'd asked. _What's the treatment?_ She hadn't gotten an answer, only a look of absolute pity and those damn words again. _I'm so sorry, Miss Granger._

It didn't take a genius to figure out what those words meant. She was going to die. Hermione Granger, brightest witch of her age, the brains of the Golden Trio, was going to die. It wasn't right. Ignorance and prejudice had stolen her childhood, her innocence, and now that it was finally over, now that the enemy had been defeated and things were supposed to get better, she was going to die. It wasn't _fair_.

She refused to accept it. Healer Hart obviously didn't know what he was talking about. There was a cure, there had to be, buried in an old tome in someone's library _somewhere_ , dusty and long forgotten, but there all the same.

Stubborn determination flooded through her as she marched through her flat to the floo, throwing in a handful of powder before shouting her destination a bit more loudly than strictly necessary.

There were certain benefits, she thought, to having befriended Theodore Nott during their eighth year at Hogwarts. One of the benefits was her completely unrestricted access to the Nott family library. Theo liked to tease her that she spent more time in Nott Manor than she did in her own flat, which was probably true. She had her own bedroom there, which Theo had assigned to her after he'd found her asleep in the library for the twentieth time in less than a month.

He was a good friend, her best friend besides Harry, and she was grateful to him for a great many things. The amount of times he'd stayed up late with her researching to help her with her work in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures being first and foremost. If the books in his library held the answers to her problem then she would probably ask him to marry her, or she would if he wasn't already married to Blaise.

She read for hours, summoning every book in the library that so much as mentioned her condition and taking detailed notes on the subject. It wasn't until she set down the fifth book and picked up the sixth that she started to feel discouraged. Every study that had been done on _Mors Autem Aureum,_ every patient that had ever been diagnosed, there was no variation in the end result of each and every case. They were all dead, each and every one of them.

"What are you doing here so late Hermione?" Theo asked her, startling her and making her jump a bit. She looked up from the book she was reading with a frown, confused by what he meant.

"Late?" she asked. "It can't be past eight yet."

"It's nearly midnight," Theo informed her. She blinked at him in surprise and he sighed. "What is it this time? What cause are you taking up that's going to make me worry about you forgetting to eat or sleep for the next few months?"

Hermione blushed. It was true that she had a habit of getting carried away whenever she was working on something, and Theo had often had to force her to eat or go to bed when she forgot about taking care of herself.

"It's not a cause this time Theo," she told him, looking back down at the book she was reading. If she looked at him now she would start crying and she would tell him everything and she wasn't sure she was ready for anyone to know.

"Then what is it?" he asked gently, patiently, which Hermione knew wouldn't last long. Theo was a lot of things, but patient wasn't one of them, especially when it came to her. He worried about her constantly, which she didn't exactly understand. Sure he'd been there in eighth year when she'd been plagued by nightmares. He'd seen her fall apart after an incident with a boggart that had turned into Bellatrix Lestrange. But even Harry and Ron didn't watch her the way that Theo did, as if he was just waiting for her to fall to pieces. Like she was something precious and fragile and needed to be protected.

" _Mors Autem Aureum_ ," she whispered. Tears stung her eyes and a lump grew in the back of her throat as the words left her mouth without her permission. She didn't have to look up to see the way Theo's body stiffened at the sound of them.

"Say that again," he said, his voice deceptively calm. Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

" _Mors Autem Aureum_ ," she repeated, her voice breaking halfway through. Her eyes opened and lifted to meet Theo's.

"You're sure?" he asked. She sighed and nodded.

"I thought that maybe they'd been wrong but… I've been reading about it for hours and I…" She took a deep, shaky breath. "Theo I'm going to die. There's no cure, nothing that anyone can do and I'm going to _die_." The moment the words left her mouth panic crashed over her like a tidal wave and she started to hyperventilate.

Theo was at her side, his arms wrapped around her almost instantaneously. He shushed her and rocked her gently back and forth, his hand making soothing circles on her back as his lips brushed against the top of her head.

"I'm going to fix this," he told her. "I'm not going to let you die. I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep Theo," Hermione chided. He chuckled softly.

"I swear to you Hermione Granger, on my honor and my magic, I will fix this."

She shivered as the magic of the formal oath settled over them. Theo would have to fix it, or he would lose his magic just as surely as she was losing hers. It was a foolish and reckless oath to make, and if she had the energy she might have been angry with him over it. She could only hope that it was possible, or they would both be lost

 


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Believe it or not, this is my attempt at something light and fluffy. How am I doing so far?
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, this is JK Rowling's sandbox, I'm just building castles.
> 
> This story is rated M because more than likely there's going to be sexual content. Also language, because I swear a lot.
> 
> Lots of love to my alpha/beta reader for this fic, NDMC, you are a gift to this world my love and I appreciate you.

_ Chapter One _

_ One Year Later _

Everything hurt. Hermione rolled out of bed and grimaced at the way her muscle and joints seemed to ache and protest her every movement. The pain had started about six months after her diagnosis, and, despite her decision to be optimistic about it most days, it had only gotten worse with time. 

She’d long since had to quit her job at the Ministry, as her illness made her too tired to stay awake for more than five hours at a time and it had become difficult to mask how much pain she was in. She took upwards of ten potions a day to manage her symptoms, six of those were for pain, one for nausea, one to regulate her magic so that she didn’t cast a cooling charm and cause an Ice Age, and the final two were energy boosters. 

If she were being completely honest with herself she knew that the energy boosters weren’t working anymore and it wouldn’t be long before she wouldn’t be able to get out of bed. Soon she wouldn’t need the potion to regulate her magic anymore because if she was being honest she hadn’t been able to do more than cast a simple levitation charm for weeks. She was nearing the end, she knew that she was.

Groaning at how much pain she was in and how utterly _exhausted_ she was, despite having slept for nearly twelve hours, Hermione made her way to the bathroom where she swallowed four for her potions. She got ready for her day, which was busy for her as she had her daily breakfast with Theo and Blaise, her weekly lunch with Harry, and dinner with Ron and Pansy.

She was going to have to take at least two naps if she wanted to make it through dinner without falling asleep. While Harry and Ron knew she was sick they weren’t fully informed on what was going on, they had no idea that they would be losing her soon. Maybe it was wrong but Hermione didn’t want them to know. 

She couldn’t stand the thought of how they would react. How Ron would get angry, how his face would turn red and then purple, how he would probably start yelling, and how, when he was done being angry, he would break down. She didn’t want to think about Harry would just sit there and stare at her with wide eyes, how he would try to think of something to say and fail because he’d never quite gotten the hang of expressing his emotions. She didn’t want to think about the way he would cry when it finally sank in that yet another person he loved was going to die and there was nothing that he could do to save them. 

It was bad enough that Theo and Blaise knew, that she had to suffer through Theo’s neverending fussing and Blaise’s pitying looks.Theo had quit his job as an Unspeakable to research her condition full time, and Blaise spent the hours he wasn’t working helping him. They had done so much for her, and it was all for nothing in the end. 

When she arrived at Nott Manor Theo was waiting for her by the floo, which was odd considering that he and Blaise always waited for her in the dining room. It only took her a moment to realize that Theo was smiling, his eyes shining with joy for the first time in months.

“I think I found it,” he announced happily. He didn’t tell her what _it_ was, he didn’t have to, they both knew he was talking about a cure. Hermione took a deep breath, unwilling to allow herself to get too excited.

“You _think_ you found it?” she asked, noting his word choice. Theo nodded.

“ It isn’t a guarantee,” he admitted, “but I was looking over my research last night and I noticed a pattern. It’s a long shot Hermione, but I don’t think it would hurt to at least  _ try _ .” 

She wanted to cry at the desperation in his voice, whatever it was that he had found he thought she was going to dismiss it. “What pattern?” she prodded. 

“I was looking at the statistics of all the patients, trying to figure out what they had in common so that I could discern how they all contracted your condition, and honestly there was only one thing that they all had in common and I feel so stupid for not having noticed it before because it’s so obvious now that I think about it-”

“Theo,” Hermione growled, cutting off Theo’s rant.

“All of the patients were unmarried professionals with high stress level jobs,” he told her gently. “I don’t know how much you know about how sentient magic is, but I think that maybe _Mors Autem Aureum_ is magic’s way of trying to get single people with career centered minds to settle down and start a family.”

Hermione frowned. “Theo, I don’t know…”

“Please just hear me out,” Theo pleaded. “Do you know what happens to your magic during a binding ceremony?” he asked. Hermione shook her head, it wasn’t something she’d ever felt the need to know since she wasn’t in a relationship and had no intention of getting married until she was at least thirty. “When the spell is performed to bind two magical people together it intertwines their core magic so that they can never be separated. That’s why divorce doesn’t exist in our world, it would literally kill one or both of the bonded parties to break the marriage bond,” he explained. 

“Okay, that makes sense, but I don’t think I understand where you’re going with this Theo,” Hermione admitted. 

“Magic is sentient, it has a mind of it’s own, which is why some witches and wizards are more powerful than others. It’s why muggleborns exist, though people like my father are loathe to admit it, magic _chooses_ them,” Theo went on, glaring at her for interrupting him. “One thing that magic has always been very adamant about is bonding and reproduction. Most witches and wizards get married and start families young, but there are a select few that are more career oriented than family oriented and I think that magic recognizes when a magical person is on their way to _never_ getting married and tries to correct it by pushing them into _needing_ to get married to avoid dying.”

Hermione blinked at him in shock for a few minutes before the gravity of what he was telling her crashed down on her. “Theo, are you telling me that if I want to live I have to get married?” she asked incredulously. Theo winced at her tone.

“ I’m saying that it’s worth a shot, because Hermione if you do and it works then you’ll live, and if it doesn’t work then at least we tried, at least  _ I  _ tried,” he said, she tried not to think about how much it sounded like he was begging. “At least say that you’ll think about it, please.”

Hermione swallowed and looked away from him. She wanted to argue with him, to put holes in his theory, but she couldn’t because she didn’t have enough information and she was too tired to do the research it would require to get the information. 

“I’m not sure we could find anyone to marry me on such short notice Theo,” she whispered softly. “If it worked then yes, I’d live, but some poor unfortunate sod would be stuck with me forever and I’m not sure I’m selfish enough to condemn someone to that kind of torture.”

“I am,” Theo blurted immediately. “I’m that selfish, fuck I’d marry you myself if I wasn’t already married to Blaise. I’ll do everything Hermione, I’ll find you someone to marry, I’ll explain the circumstances to them, I’ll even pay a dowry for you if I have to. Please, Hermione please do this, please try.”

Hermione sighed. “Let me sleep on it, I’ll give you an answer tomorrow at breakfast,” she decided hesitantly. “I’m not saying that I’ll do it, but I’ll think about it.” 

-oOo-

Lunch with Harry wasn’t going according to plan. For the first time in months Hermione had laid down for a nap and found that she couldn’t sleep, Theo’s idea had her mind spinning uncontrollably. She couldn’t believe she was even considering it, but she could see the logic in Theo’s plan and she had to admit that she was seriously considering it. 

The only thing she was having a hard time with was that if it worked then she would be  _ married _ . Forever. No divorce, no hope of finding love someday unless it was with the man Theo found for her - and Theo would have to find him for her because there was no way she was up to that task. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that, sure she would be alive but would she be happy?

“Luna is pregnant,” Harry’s voice interrupted her thoughts.

“Harry, that’s wonderful,” she told him happily. “Congratulations.”

“I was wondering, well Luna and I really, if, you don’t have to but-” he took a deep breath and ran a hand through his already disheveled hair. “This was a lot easier in my head,” he admitted. “We want you to be Godmother.”

Hermione stared at him for a moment, her mind racing, feeling absolutely gobsmacked. _Godmother_. Harry and Luna were having a baby and they wanted her to be Godmother. “Harry I-” Hermione felt her eyes fill up with tears and a lump formed in her throat. “Yes, I would _love_ to be Godmother for your child.” 

She knew the moment that the words left her mouth that she should have said no. Harry’s face lit up with joy and relief and she felt a pang of guilt when she remembered that she wouldn’t even be alive by the time Luna had the baby. But it was everything she’d ever wanted, Harry was happy, he had a family, and he wanted to include her, and she didn’t know how she was supposed to say no to that. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and please remember to feed the magical review eating fairy!


	3. Chapter 2

_ Chapter Two _

Dinner with Ron and Pansy was uneventful. Ron went out of his way to speak as little as possible, things between them had never quite returned to the way they'd been before their romantic relationship had fallen apart, but they still managed to be good friends. Unfortunately it didn't sit well with Ron that Hermione was sick and wouldn't tell anyone exactly what it was that was wrong, so they argued about it constantly. They'd learned that in order to preserve their friendship it was better to avoid the subject.

Though it didn't stop Pansy from bringing it up when she and Hermione were cleaning up after the meal. Hermione was doing dishes, elbow deep in soapy dishwater when Pansy began her inquisition.

“Are you ever going to tell them that you're dying?” she asked as she began drying and putting dishes away, making sure to keep her voice low so that Ron wouldn't overhear. Hermione paused and took a deep breath. She didn't bother asking Pansy how she knew, she was smart, observant, if anyone was capable of figuring out what was going on without being told directly it was her.

“I'm not sure yet,” she admitted.

“ It's going to destroy them,” Pansy sighed. “It's going to destroy  _ him _ .”

“He has you Pans, I'm sure that with time-”

Pansy cut her off with an exasperated groan. “You don't get it,” she accused. “I'm sure that with time it'll get easier. Yes he has me and he loves me and I love him too but I'm not you. I'm his wife, but you're his best friend. You and Harry know and understand him in ways that I never can, and I have to be honest I'm a little jealous of you for that. You weren't compatible romantically but at the end of the day if it came down to a choice between me and you he will always choose you. Ron will always choose you. Harry will always choose you.

“I'm going to paint you a picture,” she continued. “One day, very soon if my instincts are correct, you're going to die. Harry will blame himself for not noticing that you were sicker than you let on, he'll lose himself in guilt and grief and Luna will try her best to pick up the pieces but he will never be the same again. Ron will deal with it the same way he deals with anything emotional, he'll get angry. He'll be furious with you for not telling him that you were dying, he'll yell and he'll throw things and then when he's done being angry the grief will kick in and he'll shatter. And just like Harry he'll never be the same again.

“A world without you is a world where his laughter will never reach his eyes. Where he'll tell our children stories about his youth with Harry Potter and Hermione Granger and they'll watch their father weep for the best friend that he lost.” Pansy's voice shook with emotion. “He won't be the same. None of us will. I never liked you in school, or even when Ron and I were first starting out but... you're my friend too.”

Hermione stared at her, unsure of what to say. She and Pansy had formed a reluctant friendship in an effort to make Ron happy. Over the course of Ron and Pansy's marriage Hermione and Pansy had become closer and while Hermione knew that Pansy no longer hated her she had been unaware that the dark haired witch had come to think of her as a genuine friend.

“Can I ask your advise?” Hermione asked, biting her lip nervously. Pansy nodded. “Theo's been looking for a cure since I was diagnosed. It's been a year and I never thought he'd actually manage to find something...”

“But he has, hasn't he?” Pansy asked. Hermione nodded. “If anyone could find a cure to whatever is wrong with you Hermione it's Theodore Nott. He's brilliant, probably would have been top of our class if it hadn't been for you. If he's found something I have no doubt it'll work.”

“ _ Mors Autem Aureum. _ ”

Pansy dropped the plate she'd been in the process of drying and it shattered on the floor at their feet. Hermione sighed and dried her hands on her jeans before picking up her wand and casting a  _ reparo  _ on the shards of glass. Nothing happened and Hermione felt her cheeks tinge pink in embarrassment as she attempted the spell again. The plate remained broken and Pansy stared at Hermione in astonishment.

“What's Theo's solution?” she demanded. “Whatever it is you need to do it. Take whatever potion he's come up with or let him cast whatever spell he's dug up and fix this.”

“I would but it's not that simple Pansy, it's not just a potion or a spell, Theo wants me to get married. He thinks that tying my magic to someone else's will stop my disease from killing me, but it might not even work.”

“But what if it does? What if you marry someone and it stops you from dying?” Pansy argued.

“ Then I'd be  _ married _ . It's not like in the muggle world where you can just get a divorce Pans, it's forever,” Hermione shot back.

“ But you'd  _ live _ .” The desperation in Pansy's voice was almost enough to convince her. She'd be married, but she'd live, there were worse fates.

-oOo-

It was late, too late, Hermione knew, to be flooing into the library at Nott Manor. Theo would be cross with her for not getting enough rest but she couldn't sleep. It had been hours since her conversation with Pansy and Hermione couldn't seem to get it to stop replaying in her mind.

She'd gone home to her empty flat and realized for the first time how lonely her life was. She woke up alone, had breakfast with Theo and Blaise and then she spent most of her day with her nose stuck in a book before she went to bed alone. If she agreed to Theo's solution that would change, and Hermione was inclined to think that maybe it wouldn't be an entirely unwelcome change. How horrible could it be to have someone to wake up to and spend the day with, someone to fall asleep with?

She was going to take Theo's solution and run with it, she wasn't sure when exactly she'd made the decision, but her mind was made up. All that was left to do was tell him. It was nearly midnight when she stumbled through the floo, her foot caught on the grate and she would have pitched face first into the floor if Blaise hadn't caught her.

“Hermione, are you alright?” he asked. “What are you doing here so late love?”

“Where's Theo?” she asked, blinking up at him feeling momentarily disoriented. “I need to talk to Theo.”

“He's in his study,” Blaise told her, frowning. “What's so important that you couldn't wait until breakfast tomorrow?” He brushed the back of his hand against her forehead and his frown deepened. “You've got a fever.”

“I need to talk to Theo,” she said, her words slurring slightly. She could feel the bone deep exhaustion rushing through her.

“You need to sleep,” Blaise argued. “Whatever you have to say to Theo can wait until tomorrow.”

Hermione shook her head, fighting to keep her eyes open. “I have to tell Theo that I agree,” she murmured. Blaise's arms tightened around her.

“Agree to what?” he asked. Hermione could feel her consciousness slipping away.

“Tell him I said yes,” she breathed. The room swirled around her, and she became vaguely aware of several surprised faces before the world went black.

-oOo-

“Blaise, I just got an alert that Hermione-” Theo stopped talking as he walked into the library just in time to see Blaise laying Hermione down on the sofa in front of the fire. He sighed and shook his head at the little curly haired witch.

“She's exhausted, and she has a fever,” Blaise informed him.

“I should have made her stay home today,” Theo groaned. “I should have known she'd wear herself out trying to make a decision. She had lunch with Potter and dinner with Weasley today too, I should have waited until tomorrow to tell her-”

“Tell her what Theo?” Blaise demanded.

“I found it,” Theo told him, his eyes still glued to Hermione.

“You found... Theo are you serious?” Blaise asked. “You found a cure?”

Theo nodded. “It was so simple, it's been staring me in the face for months and I feel so stupid for not having figured it out before,” he answered. “Every single patient with  _ Mors Autem Aureum  _ has been an unmarried individual with a demanding job. Think about her Blaise, before she got sick what was she like?”

Blaise snorted and rolled his eyes. “Dedicated, stubborn, she'd spend hours in here researching for the cases she was working on. She wasn't taking care of herself and she always turned down any dates she got asked out on...” His voice trailed off as his eyes widened. “It's pushing them to tie their magic to someone else's,” he said as realization dawned on him. Theo nodded in agreement.

“Do either of you feel like explaining what exactly is going on here?” Draco Malfoy interrupted, making both men jump in surprise. They'd forgotten that they had company. Theo took a deep breath and turned to face the small group of friends Blaise had been enjoying a bottle of firewhiskey with before Hermione had arrived.

Draco, Greg Goyle, Adrian Pucey, and Marcus Flint were all staring between the two men and Hermione with curious, concerned expressions.

“ Hermione's dying,” he began hesitantly, unsure of how much he should tell them. “About a year ago they diagnosed her with  _ Mors Autem Aureum.  _ It's why I quit my job, I've been searching for a cure, to save her.”

“ There is no cure for  _ Mors Autem Aureum _ ,” Draco pointed out.

“There's no _known_ cure for _Mors Autem Aureum_ ,” Theo corrected him.

“But Theo might have found one,” Blaise continued.

“What is it? Why haven't you tried it yet?” Adrian asked, looking at Hermione and frowning.

“Because I wanted to give her the choice,” Theo groaned. “The solution I found, it's permanent, if it works she'll have to live with the consequences of it every day. I only discovered it yesterday and I told her about it this morning, she asked for time to consider it.”

“What is it?” Greg demanded. “What's there to think about? She either wants to live or she doesn't.”

“ _Mors Autem Aureum_ is a magical disease that only affects single witches and wizards with demanding jobs,” Theo explained. “If my thought process is correct then it's magic's way of trying to push them into tying their magic to someone else's in order to stabilize them.” There was a long moment of silence.

“We have to find someone to marry her before she dies,” Blaise explained when none of them seemed to catch on.

“And she's running out of time,” Theo continued.

“Who are you planning on asking?” Draco asked. “All of her friends are married, and most of ours are too.”

“Not to mention that those of us who aren't married were Death Eaters,” Marcus pointed out. “I don't think she'll take kindly to having to marry a former Death Eater.”

“I can't think of many former Death Eaters that would want to marry her anyway,” Adrian added.

“I'm working on it,” Theo said lamely, knowing that they were right. “I think I might have found a few candidates, Oliver Wood is single-”

“Wood is gay,” Marcus reminded him.

“Dean Thomas-”

“Is married to Finnigan,” Draco drawled.

“What about McLaggen?” Blaise asked. Theo ground his teeth together and shook his head.

“If McLaggen comes within twenty miles of her I'll kill him,” he growled. “Anthony Goldstein-”

“I'm starting to notice a pattern here,” Marcus laughed. “Everyone you want to set her up with is gay.”

“Why don't _you_ marry her then?” Theo demanded, eyeing Marcus with interest.

“You missed the part where I used to be a Death Eater,” Marcus shot back. “She isn't going to want to marry me.”

“What if she did?” Theo countered. “What if I told her you were willing to marry her and she said yes?”

Marcus frowned and looked over at where Hermione was lying on the couch. “She won't say yes, but hypothetically, if she did then yeah, I'd marry her.”

“Really?” Greg asked, looking thunderstruck.

“But she's a mud- muggleborn,” Adrian reminded him.

“ I don't really think that matters,” Marcus admitted with a shrug. “She's pretty, she's smart, and she's going to die if she doesn't marry  _ someone. _ ”

“ Have you lost your mind?” Draco asked incredulously. “Maybe it doesn't matter that she's a muggleborn but she's still  _ Granger _ . If you marry her the press will have a field day, they'll claim she's only after your money, or worse they'll claim you imperiused her!”

“None of it matters because she isn't going to say yes,” Marcus hissed.

“I'm going to ask her anyway,” Theo told them. “I'd like you to be here for breakfast Marcus.”

“Why would you agree to this?” Draco demanded incredulously. “Agree to her? She's nosy and insufferable and-”

“Dying,” Marcus cut him off. “She's dying. If that isn't a good enough answer for you then I assure you I have my reasons, none of which I plan on sharing with you. I don't have to justify myself to you or to the _Prophet_ or to anyone.”

“You're going to have to justify yourself to her,” Draco argued, “for the rest of your miserable life.”

Theo watched as Marcus looked over at the little witch, his brow creased with concern as he eyed her sickly form. “I think I could live with that,” he murmured. “What time is breakfast?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, please remember to feed the magical review eating fairy!


	4. Chapter 3

_ Chapter Three _

The next morning was stormy and cold. Rain pelted the windows so Nott Manor as Theo, Blaise, and Marcus all sat down at the dining room table to wait for Hermione. It was a gloomy sort of atmosphere that Marcus thought seemed to match his mood. He had no idea why he'd agreed to be there, he knew that Hermione was going to take one look at him and run. He didn't even blame her, if he were in her shoes he would run as well.

He'd been nineteen when he'd taken the Mark, just a boy hellbent on proving to his father that he could do _something_ right. That he was worthy of being heir to the Flint name and fortune. He hadn't considered what it meant to be a Death Eater, that it would make him no better than a slave to a ranting lunatic. That he would be forced to do horrible things, to murder and torture innocent people, had never occurred to him until it was too late.

He'd been one of the Death Eaters tasked with finding Hermione's parents. He remembered the punishments he'd endured when he'd failed to locate them. In all honesty he should probably have hated her for that, and he probably would if he hadn't been so grateful that he hadn't actually had to kill them. For all his faults Marcus had never wanted to kill anybody, he'd never even wanted to hurt anybody, he wasn't a monster despite what the _Daily Prophet_ might have claimed. 

There was a soft  _pop_ and a house elf appeared in the doorway of the room, his ears twitching nervously. “Teeny has tried very hard but Miss Hermione will not wake up,” the little elf announced. “Miss Hermione sleeps very deeply, Teeny can feel that her is very tired and that her magic is almost gone.”

Marcus felt a familiar knot form in the pit of his stomach. He looked over at Theo who had gone an unflattering grayish pale as the implications of what the elf was saying sunk in. They were out of time, she no longer had a choice in who she married because if they didn't perform the ceremony soon she was going to die.

“Teeny I want you to go and fetch the book I left on my nightstand,” Theo ordered. Teeny nodded and disappeared with another soft _pop_. “Blaise I need you to tell me exactly what Hermione said last night.”

“I already told you she wanted to talk to you and when I told her she needed to sleep first she told me to tell you that she agreed to your solution. She said you tell you she said 'yes',” Blaise said, sighing in exasperation after apparently having been asked the same thing multiple times.

“Marcus, I know that you said you agreed to this _if_ she agreed to you but-”

“She's going to be pissed if she wakes up married to me,” Marcus said firmly, knowing where Theo was about to go with his little speech.

“You're the only hope we have,” Blaise pointed out. “There's no time left for us to find anyone else, please.”

Marcus opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by the soft  _pop_ of Teeny arriving with a thick tome that he laid on the table before popping away again.  _Bonding Ceremonies: An Inside Look at Magical Bonds_ , for some reason the title seemed ominous to Marcus. 

“I'm willing to pay you a traditional dowry, if it makes you more agreeable to the circumstances,” Theo told him. Marcus nearly choked on his own tongue.

“You don't have to- to- to _bribe_ me Theo,” Marcus protested. “This isn't about money, it's about morals.”

“And since when do you have any of those Marcus?” Blaise asked pointedly.

“Marcus if you don't do this my best friend is going to die and my magic is going to be bound because I made a magical oath that I would stop it from happening,” Theo told him. Blaise shot up out of his chair.

“You _WHAT?!_ ” he screeched. Theo winced.

“I was upset, Hermione had just been diagnosed and she was so resigned to dying that I-” Theo looked down at the table, his eyes full of guilt. “I didn't know what to do, I was scared that I was going to lose her.”

“So you made a magically binding oath to save her from a deadly magical illness with _no known cure_?” Blaise demanded angrily. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“She's my best friend,” Theo whispered. “I know that you don't understand, that our friendship bothers you-”

“It doesn't bother me,” Blaise argued. “You're right, I don't always understand the two of you, sometimes I wonder why you married me and not her, but I love that girl and your friendship with her has _never_ bothered me.”

“I married you because I love you, you prick,” Theo nearly growled. “I love Hermione but she's missing a vital piece of anatomy that I happen to be quite fond of.”

“You know that we might actually lose her, don't you?” Blaise asked. Theo looked over at him and for a terrifying moment Marcus thought he might cry. His eyes were glossy with tears and his bottom lip trembled slightly.

“I'll do it,” Marcus blurted before he could stop himself. “She's going to be pissed as hell and we'll probably kill each other before the week is out, but I'll marry her.”

Theo's smile was nearly blinding. “Excellent.”

-oOo-

Marcus had never been the type of bloke to think about what his wedding might be like, but even then he'd always assumed he'd be married off to some empty headed twit with a pureblood name in an overly lavish ceremony planned by his mother and the mother of his bride. He never would have imagined that his life would be bound to his wife's while she lay comatose on her deathbed in a simply decorated bedroom in Nott Manor.

Hermione Granger was not at all the woman he remembered. The last time he had laid eyes on her she had been fighting at the Battle of Hogwarts, she had been sparking with energy, full of life and fierce determination. She might have been far too thin, with bags under her eyes, and a permanent grimace etched into her features, but she had still been radiant.

She had saved his life that day, he wasn't sure if she would remember but he  _did_ . He'd been dueling with Dolohov, having decided at the last minute that if he was going to fight then he was going to fight for what he wanted instead of a stupid oath he'd taken when he'd been nothing more than a stupid kid. Dolohov had had him cornered, he'd been exhausted, disarmed, and vaguely ready to accept the curse he knew Dolohov was going to throw at him when she'd come out of nowhere and stunned the bastard. 

Looking at her at that moment, as he sat on the bed next to her, Marcus thought about the way her eyes had met his that day and how, for a brief moment, he'd felt as though she'd stunned him too. She had beautiful eyes, they were a light, cinnamon brown with little green flecks and a honey gold ring in the center. He found himself wishing that she would open those eyes, he hated seeing her as she was, pale and lifeless with the exception of the slow rise and fall of her chest.

“Are you ready?” Theo asked him, opening the book and laying it on the bed. “I found a bonding that won't require you to consummate until you've been married for two weeks, I thought that you would both appreciate a little time to get to know one another.”

“What happens if they don't consummate within the two weeks?” Blaise asked curiously. Theo grimaced.

“Their magic will force them to consummate,” he admitted, “but it's the only one in the entire book that doesn't require him to shag her immediately.”

“Let's get this over with,” Marcus sighed. “She'll probably kill us all when she wakes up anyway so we might as well not waste any time.”

Theo nodded in agreement and handed him a ceremonial knife. “Slice your left palm open and then do the same to her and hold her hand,” he instructed. Marcus slid the knife across his palm, hissing at the sting before making an identical cut on Hermione and then wrapping her small hand in his larger one. Theo took out his wand and waved it over their hands. “ _E_ _ t magicae simul tenetur a sanguine. _ ” 

Marcus felt a pull in the pit of his stomach as a soft, golden light surrounded them. He watched as the color returned to her face, as her breathing became deeper, and the air around her began to sparkle with magic. She was coming back to herself, Theo's plan had actually worked.

Marcus felt a pang of regret that she'd have to be stuck with  _ him _ for the rest of her life. He knew that he wasn't someone she would have chosen. It felt as if he'd tainted her somehow, by tying his blackened soul to her spotless one.

He let go of her hand and cast a spell to clean their blood from her skin. The cut he'd made had already healed itself and left behind a silvery scar.

There was a slight burning sensation in his wrist and Marcus looked down to see that there was a delicate tattoo there. Thorny vines studded with inky black roses wrapped around his wrist and cradled Hermione's name, written in gold. She had one on her wrist too, matching, with the exception of it being his name written across her skin.

“It worked,” Blaise sighed in relief. “She's going to live.”

“She is,” Theo agreed. There was a long silence while the three men simply sat and watched her breathe.

“I never realized how drawn out pureblood weddings are,” Blaise said suddenly. “That took less than two minutes, I think mine and Theo's ceremony was an hour long.”

“That's what you get for letting Narcissa Malfoy plan your wedding,” Marcus snorted.

“This isn't what I imagined Hermione's wedding would be like,” Theo said sadly and Marcus frowned. Every girl deserved a wedding, if anything he'd been raised to believe was true that's what they all grew up dreaming about.

“If she wants I'll let her plan some ridiculously overpriced wedding and we'll do it again just for show,” he decided.

“You haven't even been married for five minutes and you're already wrapped around her finger,” Blaise teased him.

Marcus rolled his eyes but otherwise ignored the younger man. He looked down at Hermione, his mind spinning over the fact that they were _married_. “I should go to Gringotts,” he thought aloud. “I have to have her name put on the vaults so that she can access them. I should probably go to the ministry as well, I imagine that there's probably a stack of paperwork there for me to fill out to make her Lady Flint, officially.”

“Maybe you should wait until she wakes up,” Theo suggested. “That's the kind of thing you should talk to her about beforehand.”

“She's my _wife,_ ” Marcus argued. “If she has to be stuck with me for the rest of her life then she should at least reap the few benefits that I can offer her.”

“Do you plan on being here for when she wakes up?” Theo asked. Marcus sighed and nodded reluctantly.

“I may not be a Gryffindor, but I'm not a coward either,” he said, sounding more confident than he felt. “You two should go, do whatever it is you do with yourselves. I'll break the news to her when she wakes up.”

Theo and Blaise exchanged a concerned look but didn't argue, they left the room without another word, leaving Marcus alone to ponder how he was going to tell his wife that she was, in fact, _his_ _wife_.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, please remember to feed the review eating fairy.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading and please remember to feed the magical review eating fairy!


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